Fiona Ellis: Expansive Naturalism & the Desire for More

Aug 11, 2020

In this engaging discussion, Dr. Fiona Ellis, a philosopher of religion and author, explores the intriguing concept of expansive naturalism. She delves into the relationship between science, philosophy, and spirituality, promoting a broader understanding of naturalism that embraces moral dimensions. Ellis critiques reductive views and examines how human desire intersects with beliefs in the divine, drawing inspiration from thinkers like Nietzsche and Iris Murdoch. Ultimately, the conversation invites a redefinition of love and divine action within a contemporary philosophical framework.

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Intro

00:00 • 3min

Philosophical Journeys: Bridging Faith and Thought

03:20 • 7min

Exploring Naturalism and Its Boundaries

10:20 • 22min

Rethinking Infinite and Finite: German Idealism's Influence

32:19 • 15min

Desire and Divine Belief

47:40 • 12min

Exploring False Consciousness and Affirmative Desire

59:57 • 2min

Navigating Faith and Philosophy

01:02:07 • 8min

Expansive Naturalism and Divine Action

01:09:59 • 9min

I had an inappropriate amount of fun talking with Dr. Fiona Ellis in this episode. If your inner-nerd doesn't get pumped by the end, then it is hibernating. There's a high likelihood you will end up getting her book God, Value, and Nature.

Plus my son Elgin (12) joins for the intro and while he wasn't impressed by 3.5 million downloads of the podcast last year, he is thrilled I now have 1,000 YouTube subscribers.

In this episode we discuss...

the space between reductive naturalism and supernaturalism
expansive naturalism
the relationship between science, philosophy, and religion
prejudice against religion and value in the academy
Iris Murdoch's platonic idealism
the relationship of transcendence and immanence
how the question of value is connected to religion
Honest to God by John AT Robinson
Paul Tillich's ecstatic naturalism
why Spinoza is a theistic expansive naturalist
expanding naturalism on behalf of affirming our humanity
argument for the existence of God from desire
Sartre, Levinas, Nietzche & the lack
the generative nature of the lack
Fiona likes to teach Schopenhauer's the world as will and representation....Berkeley, Spinoza
The cultural universality of love in contrast to God
Divine action in expansive naturalism

Dr. Fiona Ellis is Professor of Philosophy at University of Roehampton and Director of the Centre for Philosophy of Religion. She worked at Heythrop College for 12 years, and has been Director of the Centre for Philosophy of Religion since 2010. Before Heythrop she had lectureships at Wadham College, Oxford, and Queen's College, Oxford, and did her graduate work (BPhil and DPhil) at Oxford University under the supervision of Professor David Wiggins and Professor Paul Snowdon. Her research interests are in philosophy of religion (broadly construed), the relation between philosophy and theology, philosophical idealism, naturalism, the philosophy of love and desire, and the meaning of life.

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